Acetylene-generator.



A. D. LONG & L. D. HARPER.

.ACETYLENE GENERATOR. APPLICATION FILED OCT-22, 1912.

1,159,96. Patented Nov. 9,1915

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES 2' IN VEN T 0R5 mwww m l: 3

L .2 Ear/061* COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 60-. WASHINGTON, n. c

A. D. LONG & L. D. HARPER. ACETYLENE GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 007.22, 19|2.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH $0.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

ARTHUR D. LONG AND LESLIE D. HARPER, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA.

ACETYLENE-GENEBATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 22, 1912. Serial No. 727,232.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR D. LONG and LESLIE D. HARPER, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson andState of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAcetylene-Generators, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to acetylene gas generators, and has for itsobject the production of an efficient generator which Wlll automaticallycause the carbid to be fed into the gas generating chamber as soon asthe volume of the gas allow the gas bell to fall below a predeterminedpoint.

Another object of this invention is the production of an efficientfeeding mechanism whereby the carbid will be discharged into the gasgenerating chamber in equally measured amounts so as to have the gas(jlelivered from the generator to have an even flow. I

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in generalof certain novel details of construction and combinations of partshereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings,and specifically claimed.

in the drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical central sectional view of thecasing showing the arrangement of the several parts of the generator.Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the feeding mechanism shownpartly in section. Fig. 3 is a side view of the discharge side of thecarbid delivery wheel. Fig. +2 is a side elevation of the structure asillustrated in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 55 of Fig. 3.Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the carbid reservoir. Fig. 7 is adetailed perspective of one of the doors closing one of the deliverycompartments of the carbid delivery wheel. Fig. 8 is a section taken online 88 of Fig. 6. Fig. 9 is a detailed perspective of the supportingcasing for the carbid delivering mechanism. Fig. 10 is a detailedperspective of the drainage pan carried within the receptacle forreceiving the sludge. Fig. 11 is a detailed perspective of the upper endof the carbid delivery wheel showing the manner of automatically openingand closing the doorsto thefcom partments of the carbid deliverywhegl.Fig. v12 is a transverse section through one of the carbid containingcompartments;

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view of is placed within anoutercasing or wall made up of a plurality of pipe sections 1 which areinterlocked in the ordinary manner, and these sections are preferablymade of vitrified tile and their connecting joints are preferablycemented with water proof cement for preventing the passage of drainagefrom the ground into the casing in which the carbid mechanism is placed.A bottom supporting plate 2 also constitutes a portion of the outercasing and this supporting plate 2 is provided with a circumferentialchannel 3 near its outer edge in which channel 3 its the lower edge ofthe lower pipe section 1. These oints, like the other joint casings, arecemented together with water proof cement for preventing leakage of thematerial within the casing through to the outside, or preventing theleakage. of the liquid or water into the receptacle. This bottom plate'is preferably formed of cast iron although it is not necessary torestrict the present structure to any specific material. The bottomwhich is provided near one side with a thickened boss at in which isformed an aperture 5. A pipe section 6 is placed within this aperture 5,and is secured therein by being cast in or otherwise fixed. A gas outletpipe 7 passes through this pip'esection 6 and is supported thereby, andthis pipe 7 extends upwardly Within the carbid or gas generatingreceptacle in such a manner as to convey the gas from. the generatingreceptacle to a place of consumption. Ihe upper end of the pipe 7 isclosed so as to prevent drippings from falling into the pipe 7, but thispipe 7 is provided upon one side thereof, near the upper end, with anaperture 8 for allowing the passage'of gas into the pipe 7. This pipe 7extends for a short distance below the bottom 2' and is connected with aright angularly extending pipe section 9 by means of an elbow 10. Thispipe section 9 in turn f i of a T jo nt 17. Y

A filter casing 18 is connected to the right angularly extending pipe16, and this casing 18 extends parallel with the pipe 12.

This casing 18 is preferably filled with felt, hair or other materialfor the purpose of filtering the gas as the same passes through thecasing so as to free the gas from moisture or of dust which might becarried thereby. A. supply pipe 19 is connected to the filter casing 18for. conveying the gas to a place of consumption where the same may beutilized.

As will be clearly understood by carefully considering the drawings, thepresent device is placed below the level of the ground in the manner asillustrated, thereby making the same perfectly safe, and at the sametime keeping the generator out of the way of foreign objects and atthesame time preventing the same from becoming materially affected bythe ordinary atmospheric changes. By having the generator placed-belowthe level of the ground there will be less danger of the water containedwithin thetank of freezing. V I

The supporting casing for the carbid delivering mechanism comprises atubular body 20 which is spaced from the side walls of the casing 1, andthis tubular body 20 carries a plurality of upwardly extending arms 21,which arms support an angular circular rim 23. The upper ends of thearms 21 support the angular rim 23. v

A draina e pan 25 is supported upon the bottom2 of the casing within thetubular body 20 as illustrated in Fig. l'in such a manner as to catchall of the refuse carbid from which has been extracted all of itschemical properties. In this manner it will be seen that the draina epan25 will prevent the carbid from'sticking to the bottom of the casing.The pan 25 is supported by a plurality of angle legs 26 which aresecured to the bottom of the pan. and a handle 27 is secured to the sideof the pan 25 by having its angular ends 28 fitting in the journalportions 29. One side of the pan 25 is provided with an inwardly foldedportion 30 which portion fits around the vertically extending pipe 7.and in this manner holds the pan 25 in a set position within the casing.A. bracket 31 is carried by one of the side walls of the pan 25 and uponthis bracket rests the bail or handle 27 so as to prevent the handlefrom dropping into the pan. The carbid containing mechanism comprises alower supporting disk 32 which care ries a plurality of verticallyextending arms 33. Diagonally extending braces 35 are also by means of athreaded cap 39. Suspended from the top of the carbid container'is a rod40, which rod carries a substantially conicalshaped distributer 41 forcausing the carbid to be spread around the lower end of the reservoir 36and for discharging from the lower end of the reservoir. The upper endof the reservoir 36 is also provided with an upwardly extending lug 42and a coil spring equalizing the pressureon the gas bell when it,descends'and this coil spring bears upon the reservoir 36. The spring isarranged so that when the bell descends'it bears evenly on the lug andthe'spring and bellwill not catch on the sides of the'casing 1. Thespring is to'be of the same height as the rod 45 and to be of strengthequal to the sure required to depress the rod 45.

' The gas bell 44 is of an elongated tubular structure having an upperclosed end 46 and a handle 47 is carried by the upper end of the bell 44to facilitatethe removal of the bell from the casing when it is sodesired. The upper end of the casing 1 is closed by means of the top 48"of any desired structure. r r

A pair of transversely extending spaced members 49 are carried by thedisk or rim 32 and between these spaced members is journaled a carbiddelivery wheel 50 upon a supporting pin 51. The carbid reservoir 36. isprovided with a vertically extending tube 51 and through this tubeextends a vertically extending operating rod 45 previously described,and this rod connects to a link rod 52,.which link rod in turn isadjustably connected in one of the apertures 53 of the ratchet lever 54.This lever 54 is provided with an inturned tooth engaging end 55 whichis adapted to engage the ratchet teeth 56 formed upon one side of thecarbid delivery wheel. The lever 54 is journaled upon the journal pin51, and carries a weight 57 upon its angle end 58. It will, therefore.be seen that as the bell 44 descends within the casing 1, the rod 45will be forced downwardly thereby causingthe upper end of the ratchetpawl 54 to be forced against the ratchet teeth 56 which will, of

pres- 43 normally is engaged by-the gas bell 44 for course, cause thecarbid delivery, wheel to rises, the rod 45 will bereleased and theweight 57 will throw the lever 54 to its nor- 2 mal position. A springpawl 57 is'carried by one of the transversely extending members 49 andengages the ratchet teeth 56 for of the Wheel 50 in one formed by thespaced partitions 61 andthese partitions carry near their outer edge acircular band 62, which band is provided with a plurality of apertures63 into which fit the lugs 64 formed on some of the partitions 61 forholding the band 62 thereon. This band 62 is also provided with aplurality of door supporting apertures 65, which apertures are arrangedin pairs so as to have one pair of apertures positioned between eachpartition 61 and the one next to it. a

Each of the compartments 60 are closed by means of the doors 66, whichdoors taper toward their outer ends to conform to the shape of thecompartments 60, and are provided'near their upper ends with a beadedportion 67, which beaded portion overhangs the inner edge of the band 62in such a manner as to allow the plate to fit snugly over the dischargeside of the carbid containing compartment. This beaded portion 67 isprovided with a pair of curved arms 68 which arms fit in the apertures65 and thereby constitute an efficient hinge for allowing the doors 66to swing outwardly when released by the mechanism to be hereinafterdescribed. These doors are each provided upon one side with an outwardlyextending flange 69, which flange engages a cam ring 70 for controllingthe opening and closing of the doors. A lifting lug 71 is also formedupon the outer end of each door for allowing the door to be manuallyopened when so desired. This lifting lug 71 will constitute a stop forlimiting the inward swinging of the doors upon the compartments 60. Thejournal pin 51 is preferably formed integral with the carbid deliverywheel, and the body of the carbid delivery wheel upon the discharge sideof the compartments 60 is preferably concave to facilitate the droppingof the carbid from the carbid delivery wheel provided the carbid shouldfall around the ournal pin 51. This pocket is illustrated as indicatedat 72 in 5. i 1%;

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the doors 66 may bereadily removed from the band 62 when so desired, but owing to thepeculiar hinged fingers 68 the doors will be prevented from accidentallybeing displaced from the carbid delivery wheel 50.

A cam ring or band, previously referred to, 70, is carried by one of thetransversely extending members 49, and this band is placed upon themachine in front of the carbid delivery wheel and normally bears againstthe doors 66 which close the carbid compartments 60. This cam ring 70 issupported by a plurality of brackets 71 which firmly grip one of thetransversely extending members l9 and hold the cam band or ring 70 in aset position. The cam ring 70 is split so as to have one end lie snuglyagainst.

the flanges 69 of the doors 66, and the other end of the band is curvedoutwardly so as to form a space between the ends of the ring forfacilitatingthe opening of the doors after the carbid delivery wheelrotates. Since the ring 70 at all times remains stationary, it will beseen that the carbid compartments 66 will only be opened so as to allowthe carbid to be discharged therefrom when the doors re ister with theopening formed by means of the outturned end of the cam ring 70. Thiscam ring, by having one end turned outwardly, will also facilitate theclosing of the door to the empty compartments after the carbid has beendischarged therefrom, for the reason that the door will ride over thecam surface formed by the out-turned end of the cam ring. As soon as thenext door reaches the open portion of the ring, the same willimmediately fall open in such a manner as to allow the carbid to bedischarged from the next compartment, and in this way the operation ofthe device is continuous, one compartment of carbid being discharged ata time. This discharge of carbid is, however, controlled by the verticalrod 45 previously referred to, since this rod controls the rotation ofthe carbid delivery wheel. The doors 66 are so hinged as to have theirinner ends extending inwardly at an angle when in a closed position. Inother words, the hinged portion of these doors projects beyond the innerfree ends of the doors, and these innerends are only held in a closedposition by means of the cam ring 7 0. It will, therefore, be seen thatthe doors 66 will be caused to open by means of their weight since thedoor will have a tendency to hang vertical as soon as the pressure ofthe ring has been released from the inner ends. Since the inner walls ofthe carbid compartments are also inclined, it will be seen that everyportion of the carbid within the receptacles will be dischargedtherefrom as soon as the doors become automatically opened. The weightof the carbid will have a tendency to force the doors open as soon asthe doors have been relezised from the pressure of the cam ring 70.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a very eificient anddurable, quick acting, automatic, machine has been produced which willinstantaneously feed the carbid to the gas generating chamber since thegas bell et-l falls in such a manner as to cause the rod to bedepressed. After this operation is continued from time to time, and thecarbid delivery wheel is rotated, the carbid will be discharged from thecompartment 60, and as the compartments again come to the dischargespout 37 of the reservoir, the compartments will again be filled so thatthis operation may be kept up until the carbid reservoir 36 has becomeempty.

By use oi the present device, it will be seen that the greatestdifficulty which is very often experienced in apparatus of the, presentcharacter is overcomeby reason that the carbid in the present device isdischarged into the gas generating chamber in equal quantities so as toprevent a great waste of the carbid. Since only a small amount of carbidis delivered into the generating chamber at one time, it will be seenthat a continuous flow or an even flow of gas may be obtained, andthatthe carbid will not'loe permitted to run out into the gas generatingchamber in unmeasured quantities so as to cause not only the waste ofthe carbid, but also cause the generation of more gas than is necessary,hence waste considerable of the gas.

()i course, it should be understood as illustratcd in Fig. 1, that thelower end of the bell i-l is positioned or immersed within the watercontained. within the lower portion of the casing. In this manner itwill be seen that a perfect seal will be produced for thegeneratorwhereby gas will be prevented from escaping from the generator.The water contained within the tubular body 20 will constitute, with thecarbid, the gas generator material, whereby the water between the outerface of the tubular body and the inner face oi? the outer casing willconstitute a liquid seal. It should be understood that the disk orcarbid delivery wheel is adapted to rotate in the direction of the arrowindicated in Fig. 8 andthat the pockets of the carbid deliverywheel. 50will be emptied upon the second movement of the disk or wheel 50 afterthe pocket has been first filled with carbid from the carbid reservoir86;

Of course, it should be understood that this invention may be modifiedin its me chanical construction without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. A generator of the class described comprising a casing, a carbiddelivery wheel 2. A generator of the class described comarisin a casin acarbid deliver wheel comprising a plurality of compartments, eachcompartment having an inclined rear wall, a band formed around theperiphery of the carbidv delivery; wheel, detachably mounted hinge doorssecured to said band and extending inwardly toward the center of saidcarbid delivery wheel, a cam ring supported adjacent said carbiddeliverywheel and provided with an outwardly turned end, saidcam ringnormally fitting against said doors for holding the same in a closedposition and allowing one of said doors to open at a time when said doorreaches said out wardly bent end of said cam ring.

3. A generator of the class described comprising a carbid delivery wheelcomprising a plurality ofcompartments, each compartment having aninclined rear wall, means for delivering carbid to said compartments, aplurality of hinge doors secured near the periphery of said deliverywheel and extended inwardly toward the center of said carbid deliverywheel, each door provided with an outwardly extending flange, a cam ringsupported adjacent said delivery wheel and normally bearing against saidflanges of said doors, said ring provided with an outwardly turned end,said ring adapted to normally hold said doors in a closed position bybearing upon said flanges and allowing one 01": said doors to open atatime when said door reaches said outwardly bent end of said cam ring.

In testimony whereoi we hereunto aiiiX our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ARTHUR D. LONG. LESLIE D. HARPER.

Witnesses RAY EGKERMAN, B. F. SIMMONS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents;

Washington.D,C.

